


Why Gwen Left

by Tamasha



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Boys In Love, Break Up, Cute, F/M, Fights, First Dates, Fish, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gay, Grey's Anatomy References, Happy Ending, Kissing, Light Angst, Love, M/M, Modern Era, Oblivious Merlin, POV Merlin, Pining, Relationship(s), Romance, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-08-28 22:24:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16731771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tamasha/pseuds/Tamasha
Summary: Arthur and Gwen are always fighting. Merlin doesn't quite understand, because they are both perfectly pleasant to be around otherwise, but it is definitely none of his business. It's not like he has a crush on his roommate or anything. Not at all. So he will just leave them to it and watch his Grey's Anatomy.





	Why Gwen Left

**Author's Note:**

> written by Tamara

It's times like this Merlin  _ really  _ wishes he had a different housemate. The times when Arthur's bloody girlfriend is over and they are either fucking or fighting. It's hard to tell the difference, since Merlin hasn't really done much of either. Well, he's fought with Will a bit, but that's different. He's never been in a  _ lover's  _ quarrel.

That is a stupid thing to think.

How the hell does Arthur put up with it!? Merlin would lose his mind if some girl ever came into his space and yelled at him. In fact, he wouldn't put up with it. That might be why he hasn't dated anyone…

Or it might be because he's in love with his housemate.

But that's another story.

This story is about… well, it should be about Merlin, since he's the one narrating, but it's not. Merlin is on the sidelines, as usual, and that's okay. He likes watching people live their lives, it makes him feel good to know the people around him are happy. And Arthur is happy. He is. Every morning when Merlin comes into the kitchen for breakfast, Arthur smiles up at him from his mug of coffee and says good morning in a way that Merlin can tell that he's in love. And that's good. Arthur deserves happiness. He of all people does, after all the shit he has been through. Arthur is probably one of the bravest people Merlin knows. That's why he can't understand why Gwen fights with him the way she does; she's usually so sweet. And she used to like Merlin too, but something changed when Merlin and Arthur got this flat together and she hasn't quite been the same since.

But it's okay. Merlin is perfectly content being single, alone, on this couch, watching Grey’s Anatomy, not at all listening to the muffled sounds of his flatmate and his girlfriend going at each other, in one sense of the word or another.

“...tell me I'm making this up… know what I see!”

Merlin is definitely not listening. By the way, that's Gwen if by chance the reader of this story is nosey.

“...friends! That's it!”

That was Arthur.

“... you're a prat!”

Well, she's right, he is.

“Guinevere!” Arthur says, his voice coming from the hallway now as feet fall quickly, getting louder.

Gwen pushes her way out the front door and closes it with a slam.

Merlin flinches.

Then Arthur comes out, staring at the door like it held the answer to all his problems. But it only lasts a moment, then he spins on his heels and faces Merlin. “Sorry, M. That was… erm, well, I'm sorry about that.”

Merlin nods, but his mouth stops working; the awkwardness is palpable. He's never had experience with domestic disputes like this, it was always just him and his mum growing up, and they were as close as peanut butter and jelly. 

Arthur plops down onto the sofa next to Merlin, and lets out a loud sigh. “Bloody hell!” he exclaims, covering his face. “I don't know what to do.”

Is he asking  _ Merlin _ for advice!? What the hell would Merlin know about  _ girls _ !? Or dating for that matter?

“It's okay,” he whispers, reaching out a hand to pat Arthur on the shoulder in what he hopes is a placating gesture. “She'll come around.”

Arthur glares at Merlin as if he's done this to him. “I don't think so, M. I think this is it…” He looks again at the door. “But I hope you're right.”

Merlin nods, even though Arthur isn't looking at him. 

Then, after a solid minute, Arthur comes to again. “Fuck, why am I talking to you about this? You're the  _ last _ person I should be talking to right now!” With that, he stands up.

“Prat,” Merlin mutters.

Arthur spins around. “What did you say?”

“Nothing,” Merlin lies.

Arthur chuckles to himself, ruffles Merlin's hair, says, “Shut up,” then leaves back down the hall as if nothing even happened.

Merlin rolls his eyes and goes back to his show - because that certainly is not it for Arthur and Gwen, and Arthur sees Merlin as an annoying little brother at best, and a messy housemate at worst. That is it. End of story.

 

Except it's not really the end.

 

×<>×<>×<>×

 

Two weeks have passed since  _ The Gwen Incident _ , as Merlin is so cleverly calling it in his mind. It is a bit insensitive, now that he thinks about it, because it turns out Arthur was right. Gwen has never come back. Apparently Arthur “doesn't blame her” and “doesn't want to talk about it with YOU, Merlin.” Well Merlin doesn't want to know anyway, he is just trying to be a nice housemate! 

Merlin is rolling out the cookie dough, patting it down with the heels of his hands, just the way his mum taught him when a large hand swoops in out of nowhere and takes a corner of Merlin's cookie dough!

“Excuse me!” Merlin exclaims.

Arthur just laughs, hopping up onto the counter like he rules everything the light touches. “Oh, this is sweeter than your last batch,” he comments.

Merlin scowls. “Don't complain after your thievery didn't turn out the way you expect.”

“I'm not complaining, I'm just saying. I thought you would like to know.”

Merlin just shakes his head instead of answering, because that's much easier than trying to have a reasonable conversation with a Pendragon. Merlin has tried. 

“After these are done, do you have any plans tonight?”

_ That's none of your business _ , Merlin thinks to himself. That's what he wants to say. Because it's  _ not _ Arthur's business. Not at all.

“I was going to finish season three of Grey’s Anatomy,” he admits, immediately regretting it.

“God, that's sad,” Arthur chides. “You'll probably eat the lot of these cookies as well, won't you?”

“Will not,” he protests, even though Arthur is probably right.

“Come out with me?”

He says it in such a way that makes Merlin heart beat skip. Once. Twice. Then it resumes its normal rhythm, and that clearly means Merlin is having a heart attack and not at all reacting to the tone of his roommate's voice or the phrase he happens to use and its potential alternate meaning.

“Yeah, okay,” his own voice says. Wait, what!? No. Merlin has plans already! He isn't…

Arthur sometimes gets a look in his eye that tells Merlin a bit about him. One, he's not as arrogant as he likes others to believe. Somewhere underneath all the exterior is a scared little boy, eager to impress and do what is right. Two, it shows a kindness and compassion only challenged by that of Merlin's own mother. He doesn't think he has seen anyone more compassionate than those two people.

“It's going to be a good night, I promise. Now go put on that shirt I gave you, M; you look good in it!” Arthur is speaking as he leaves the kitchen, more excited than Merlin on Christmas.

Merlin can't do anything but go back to his cookies and wonder how he got himself in this situation.

Except he knows. It's because he's a big idiot with a stupid crush. Not a crush. He  _ definitely  _ doesn't think of Arthur that way.

 

×<>×<>×<>×

 

Merlin expected a nightclub or a bar or something more flashy than a hole-in-the-wall pizza place downtown. The doorman still takes their coats at the door, even though the place has paper napkins. Merlin doesn't say anything though, because Arthur doesn't do this sort of thing with anyone. Not… well. Maybe he would with Leon. Or Gwaine. This definitely is  _ not _ a date. Merlin knows better and he needs to refocus his mind on other things or else he will think about Arthur’s tight -

“Look! Fish!” There is a tank across the whole back wall with saltwater fish in all sorts of colors. “Like that?” Arthur asks, as if he had created it himself.

“They are so pretty,” Merlin coos, pressing his cheek to the glass.

Arthur chuckles, the same way he always does when he finds something genuinely amusing. “My mom used to take me and Morgana here every Friday night. Morgana doesn't remember much of her, but I do…”

It was almost as if Arthur isn't even really talking to Merlin anymore. More to himself. And Merlin isn't about to interrupt this train of thought. It is rare thing for Arthur to speak of his mother, and Merlin never knows what to say when he does. He has never experienced the loss of a parent, since he never met his own father and Mum is still very much in his life. 

In the blink of an eye, Arthur snaps back out of it, wiping his eyes like there is dust in them, or something. Merlin decides to ignore it and follow the blond to a table in the middle of the restaurant.

“Did you take Gwen here often?”

Arthur scowls. “What?”

And it isn't until that exact moment that Merlin realizes it is an entirely stupid thing to bring up. “I… never mind.”

But Arthur doesn't call Merlin an idiot or tell him to shut up. Nothing like that. He actually looks hurt. “This was a mistake,” he says to himself, picking at his napkin.

Merlin is silent. Then he looks down at his lap. “I'm sorry about your Mum,” he offers, though he's not sure that's any better.

“Thanks,” says Arthur, quietly, but sincere.

They don't say much the rest of the night, but Arthur seems to relax after they get their food. Before they leave, Arthur thanks Merlin for coming with him in a way that tells Merlin that this meant much more to him than just a night out with his flatmate. It makes Merlin feel honored to have been let into this side of Arthur. Even if the door shut nearly immediately after Merlin made a stupid comment. Still. The night was nice, even if a bit awkward.

 

×<>×<>×<>×

 

It has been almost a month since the incident formerly known as _The_ _Gwen Incident_ and Arthur has been avoiding Merlin like the plague since _The Fish And Pizza And Definitely Not A Date Incident_. And that's fine. It is. Arthur seems to like going out with his friends and coming home late and drunk, smelling of beer and chips. Merlin doesn't care. Because Arthur is a good flatmate otherwise and Merlin can't afford to move out on his own, and anyway, he doesn't need to be friends with his flatmate, even though he thought they were! But it's fine.

 

It's Friday night, late, and Merlin is almost done with season six of Grey’s Anatomy. Arthur will be stumbling through the front door soon, so Merlin should go to bed to help with this whole avoiding thing. But he wants to watch one more episode, so he does, and then Arthur walks in through the door before it is over. 

Arthur plops down next to Merlin, staring at the telly as if it's the most normal thing in the world and they haven't been ignoring each other for weeks. Tonight, though, he doesn't smell like beer and chips, he smells like Italian food and the sea.

“I'm going to die alone,” he says once the episode ends.

Merlin looks at him, waiting for more.

Arthur looks back, maybe waiting for more himself.

“You won't,” Merlin finally says, seriously. “You're too pretty for that.”

Arthur laughs, throwing his head back and committing fully to it. For some reason it makes Merlin laugh too, though he doesn't know why. 

“You're pretty cute too, you know that, M?”

Merlin swallows, mouth suddenly dry.

There is a fifteen second pause before the next episode will play automatically. When it inevitably does, Arthur gets up wordlessly, leaving Merlin with a sense of regret.

 

×<>×<>×<>×

 

Merlin is stupid. Arthur is right about him being an idiot, because only a fool would think that anything could ever happen between them. He must have shown something on his face, that's why Arthur got up and left like that. Merlin tosses and turns in bed that night, furious with himself and angry that -

_ Crash! _

Merlin really is an idiot.

Arthur rushes into the room, slamming the door against the wall in his haste, and turns on the light. He finds Merlin on the floor by his bed, rubbing his head that just hit the nightstand. 

“What the hell, Merlin!?”

Merlin scowls, getting to his feet. “Fuck you…” he mutters, gathering his covers and climbing back into his bed.

“Are… are you okay?” Arthur asks. And he has that look on his face again. The same one he gave Merlin when he asked him to come to the pizza place with him. It's so… damnit!

“I'm fine,” Merlin says, voice cracking.

Arthur strides in, confident as ever and sits at the edge of Merlin's bed. “Let me see it,” he commands.

Merlin obeys, leaning forward, too sad to resist.

“You're not bleeding. You didn't black out or anything, did you?”

“What do you care?” Merlin asks, words full of spite. 

Arthur freezes, hands that were reaching out now pulling away. “M…”

“Maybe you're right, you will die alone, because you clearly hate me. I don't know why Gwen left you, but she's stupid if you ask me because you're so golden and wonderful. I don't know why you've been avoiding me lately, but I hate it! You used to make me feel so damn happy when you talked to me, and I miss you!” The words just pour out of him, hardly making sense, and more than ever Merlin wants to shrink away and go back to being the one on the sidelines looking in again. 

He wants to watch the beautiful fish swim and be happy, not join them in the chaos of the water. 

Arthur looks at Merlin as if he's making a decision. His nostrils flare and he brow creases as he studies Merlin's eyes, looking for answers that can’t be there. He seems to find what he's looking for, though, because he leans in and says, “You really are an idiot, aren't you, Merlin?”

The way he says his name makes the world slow and Merlin's head hurt worse, but for new reasons.

“What?” he whispers, and it's the last sound he makes before Arthur closes the distance between them for a kiss.

Merlin pulls away, frowning, “But you hate me…”

Arthur goes back in for more.

Merlin shakes his head. “I thought I ruined everything…”

“Please stop thinking, M. It really doesn't suit you.”

Merlin scowls, but this time, he's the one who initiates the kiss as he tackles Arthur to his bed.

 

×<>×<>×<>×

 

He's still not sure exactly why Gwen left.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in one sitting and I totally don't remember what inspired it. But hopefully it turned out okay. Thanks for reading.


End file.
